No regrets
by Jeannie-Mckay
Summary: Death will claim its victims, but who will they be? DEATH FIC. Last part of my Seventh Book drabbles series.


Title: No regrets

Rating: T (for death)

Summary: Death will claim its victims, but who will they be? DEATH FIC. Last part of my Seventh Book drabbles series

Author's Note: This is the final instalment of my Seventh Book drabbles series, so no more shall be coming, mainly because the book's coming out tonight. Yay, um it's quite a sad ending, but I hope you enjoy it.

Thank-you to all who have read and reviewed the rest of my Seventh Book Drabbles collection, you've made writing these very fun and I've always looked forwards to posting another chapter. I hope that you enjoy these, and then later on that you enjoy reading the final Harry Potter book.

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Harry battled his way through the oncoming Death Eaters, not caring how he got rid of them only knowing that he needed to in order to find Voldemort. Together with Ron and Hermione he managed to destroy the remaining Horcruxes, and now all he needed to do was destroy the last bit of Voldemort's soul. The part that was still in his body.

All around him he could hear shouting, as people sent spells at each other desperately trying to win this battle. His green eyes travelled around the room, trying to find the man he was looking for, when suddenly he saw Lucius Malfoy send a jet of green light straight at Remus.

"REMUS!" His voice blended with two others, but they were too late. Remus' eyes widened in shock before he fell to the floor. Harry felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him, the last of his father's friends was gone. His last mentor was gone, there was no one else left to teach him. Anger rose in the pit of Harry's stomach, and he found himself turning away from the sight of Tonks cradling Remus in her arms, and running towards the other end of the Atrium. The golden statues glinted in the light from the hundred of spells being cast back and forth, but Harry refused to be drawn in by the mesmerising light show behind him. He needed to concentrate; he needed to get this right otherwise there was no point in any of it.

Finally he reached the pool that surrounded the statues; it's water rippling slightly as though a breeze was whipping across the water. Harry looked down into the water, and saw his reflection staring back at him, it was distorted slightly by the ripples but the green eyes behind round glasses, watched him carefully. He was no longer the young, naïve boy he'd been seven years ago, no now he was a young man who was ready to take his revenge on the murderer who had torn his family apart.

"_Harry Potter thinks he's ready to face me. You're nothing more then a child."_ The voice echoed through his mind, reverberating in every corner and causing his scar to prickle slightly.

"I'm not a boy anymore, and I've been ready to face you for a long time. Now, I'm going to avenge my parents, Sirius and all the other people who you've helped destroy." Images of people began to invade his mind, his parents smiling down at him, Sirius grinning as they met again at Grimmauld Place, Remus jumping in front of him to stop the boggart turning to Harry.

"_Brave words, but you shall not win. You'll fail like your parents, your godfather and the werewolf. The boy who lived shall fall by my hand."_

"We'll see." The reflection in the water changed, it was no longer just Harry staring up at the world around him, a tall, skeletally thin figure was stood a few feet away, clad in black robes and holding a wand in one hand. Harry looked up at Lord Voldemort, and felt hatred bubble inside him. Now it would end. Baptism of fire.

"Now, the end of Harry Potter. I've been looking forward to this, for a long time." Voldemort stepped forwards, an evil smile playing across his face as he surveyed the seventeen-year-old.

"Pity you're going to be disappointed." Harry stayed where he was, his eyes flickering between Voldemort and the people duelling to his right.

"Oh, I don't think so." Harry's eyes found Hermione lying on the floor,

'_No!' _He thought, almost forgetting about the man advancing towards him. Everything turned to slow motion, as he saw Ron running towards Hermione. Tears were streaming down the redhead's cheeks, but he was still blasting spells everywhere trying to hit as many Death Eaters as possible. A few feet away from Hermione, Arthur Weasley was stirring slowly.

'_Too many have died, don't let this continue Harry,'_ Hermione's voice sounded in his head, and he smiled slightly as she continued, _'don't you dare give up now. You've got a job to do, one that no one else can even attempt. Thank-you Harry, for everything.'_ He didn't know if this was his mind conjuring up Hermione's voice, to reassure him that she was all right or whether she really was saying her good-byes now. But he decided that it didn't matter at the moment, all that matter was that he had a job to do. He turned back to Voldemort, and raised his wand.

XXXXXXXXX

Ron watched as the girl he loved slowly fell to the floor, he felt a howl rip through his throat and he sent a curse at the Death Eater he was currently fighting, before he ran as fast as he could towards Hermione. She was lying as still as anything on the cold floor, everything around him seemed to go in slow motion as he threw himself to his knees by her side.

"Hermione!" He felt the tears streaming down his face, but he didn't care, all that mattered was that she had to wake up. "Come on, stop pretending." He said, his hands raising her head off the ground. Blood was trickling from her mouth, and her face was deathly white. Ron looked around at the fighting pairs, but no one seemed to have noticed that Hermione was dying.

"R…Ron?" His head whipped down as Hermione's eyes fluttered open, he smiled sadly down at her.

"Hey."

"I'm so s…sorry." She said, in a small voice her eyes flickering closed more often then he'd like.

"Hey, there's nothing for you to be sorry for. You're gunna be fine, you hear me. So just rest for a bit, then we'll get you out of here." Hermione smiled slightly, as she looked up into his face.

"Ron I'm not going to…" He cut her off, not wanting to hear what she was going to say.

"You're gunna get out of here, and you're going to be fine. And then we'll buy a house, you know like we talked about. A big one, with lots of rooms, and then we'll get married. You always wanted a big white wedding, and you're going to get one. I promise. Then we'll have some kids, lots of little redheads running around the place. Two boys, and a little girl…"

"Two girls."

"Okay, two boys and two girls," Ron grinned through the tears down at her, "how does that sound?"

"Sounds nice, I can't wait." Hermione smiled slightly, before her eyes fluttered closed for one last time.

"No! Hermione! Wake up!" He shook her slightly, but her head just lolled to one side. "Please." He whispered, but he knew it was too late. She was gone. She was never going to hug him again, never going to kiss him again; they weren't going to buy that big house they'd talked about.

' "_My name's Hermione Granger" Ron stared up at the girl in the compartment doorway; she had bushy brown hair and was already wearing her Hogwarts robes._

"_I'm Ron, Ron Weasley." He said, smiling up at her. This wasn't too bad a day, he'd already met Harry Potter and now he was meeting yet another person. Something told him that he, Harry and this girl would get along like a house on fire. _

"_Oh are you doing magic?" Ron faltered for a second, not wanting to be shown up in front of a girl. Especially one he didn't know at all, but what was the worst that could happen?…'_

'_There she was lying as stiff as a board on the Hospital Wing bed, staring up at something that no one else could see. Her hand was outstretched, and he watched as Harry took her hand. He wished that he could do that, but he would just feel uncomfortable. Instead he just watched, as a piece of him died inside. One of his best friends was lying, like she was dead, on a Hospital bed, and they had to find out what had happened to her…'_

'_They watched as the executioner made his way into Hagrid's vegetable patch, axe in hand to kill Buckbeak. They couldn't do that! It'd been all Malfoy's fault for being such a prat and not listening to Hagrid properly! If only he'd listened, then none of this would have happened. _

_Next to him Hermione was trying to hold back sobs, and next to her Harry was watching with a sad expression on his face. The invisibility cloak was covering them still, but he could feel Scabbers squirming in his hand. The stupid rat just wouldn't stay still, then it bit him on the finger and fell to the ground. _

_He ran after it, ducking out from under the cloak and hurried towards the Whomping Willow…'_

' "_Do you think he's alright in there, Ron?" Hermione asked, as they stared at the maze waiting for the champions to emerge again. They'd already seen two flashes of red sparks somewhere in the maze, but they hadn't seen which champion they belonged to. All they could do was hope that Harry would be okay._

"_Yeah, 'course he will." Ron said, hoping that he sounded confident, when in actual fact he was very worried about his best mate. He didn't know what was going on in that maze, and he could only hope that Harry would return soon. _

_Suddenly two people appeared on the grass outside the entrance to the maze, one of them was holding a cup in one hand. Ron squinted and recognised the black haired boy, Harry was back. But there was something wrong, something was dreadfully wrong. He turned to Hermione, wondering if she knew what was wrong…'_

'_They ran through the Hall of Prophecy, trying to escape from the Death Eaters. All around him he could hear the little glass balls falling from the shelves, but he had no idea if they were being followed. They'd lost Harry, Hermione and Neville a little while ago, and it was starting to worry him. What if something happened to them? Would he ever see them again? _

_Suddenly a Death Eater appeared in front of them, his mask ripped off to reveal a horribly scarred face. The man raised his wand and was about to utter a spell when Ron shouted,_

"_STUPEFI!" The man was blasted backwards, and lay as stiff as a board. Ron grinned to himself, as they hurried on towards the nearest door. In his head all he could think about was finding the others, but Hermione's face kept popping into his head as he ran…'_

'_The two of them watched as the white coffin that held the greatest wizard that had ever lived burst into flames, and Fawkes the phoenix flew into the burning inferno and disappeared. Ron felt someone's hand slip into his, and he looked across to see Hermione crying silently. He squeezed her hand gently, and looked back at the coffin. He wanted to cry, but now was not the time for grief, there'd be a time for crying and a time to commemorate those who'd died but now was not it._

"_Don't worry." He whispered, and he heard Hermione wipe her eyes and sit up straighter. The hand in his felt right, and he knew that this was the start of something great…'_

'_No sad goodbyes, not anymore.'_ Ron closed his eyes, and laid Hermione's head gently back onto the floor. When he opened them he refused to look down at his friend's body, instead he looked over towards the fountain and saw Harry and Voldemort.

Ron stood slowly, and moved closer to the two wanting to help but knowing that this was Harry's job and that he couldn't do anything to help him.

Someone shouted behind him and he turned to see a Death Eater advancing towards him, he took a deep breath and raised his wand.

This was the end…the end of it all.

XXXXXXXXXXX

'_No regrets, no looking back. No goodbyes, no goodbyes.'_

The sunlight glittered on the water's surface, birds chirped in the distant expanse of forest behind them. A soft wind rustled the leaves, and blew over the assembled crowd all dressed in black. They were stood in front of the Lake at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, no one was speaking. They'd had a service, to commemorate all those who had died defending the world from Lord Voldemort, and now they were going to offer their tributes.

'_Someday I'll go, where there ain't no rain nor snow.'_

All the names of the dead were carved into a tree at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, as a lasting reminder to all the students who came here that these people had helped save them from a terrible fate. Each person of the congregation had looked at the tree, and each had shed tears at the memories of those they had lost.

'_I'll make my bed, with the stars above my head. And dream of a place called home.'_

"Today we remember those who fought for us, those who died for us. We thank them for giving their lives to help us, and we remember their bravery." As the man who'd taken the service stepped down from his stand, he signalled for a young redhead to take his place.

Ron Weasley stood up and walked shakily towards the stand. In his hands he held a scrunched up piece of paper with his speech written on it, but he didn't really want to read it. Finally he stood up on the stand, and looked at the hundreds of people assembled before him.

"We've all lost people during the…during Voldemort's struggle for power. We've lost brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends… but we've got to remember that they died helping us. I've lost my father, two of my brothers and two of my best friends. And although this service is meant to be about all of those who died, I think that one person should be spoken about today.

Without Harry Potter we would not be here today, many of us would have died many years ago! He was a remarkable man, and a great friend and he died ridding the world of an evil that should never have arisen in the first place. I know now that he is happy, and that he's with his parents again. But he died destroying Voldemort, and without him we'd not be here today…"

'_Someday I'll go, where there aren't no rain or snow,' till then I travel alone.'_

_We will remember you:_

_James Potter_

_Lily Potter_

_Sirius Black_

_Amelia Bones_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Remus Lupin_

_Arthur Weasley_

_Fred Weasley_

_George Weasley_

_Nyphradora Tonks_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Hermione Granger_

_Harry Potter_

_You're home now._

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Please do review, and I hope you enjoyed this.

Thanks again for reading.


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